PREVIEW - Port Vale vs Wycombe Wanders

It is the first home game of the 2017/18 Sky Bet League Two season, and Michael Brown will be looking to build on the three points earned away Crawley Town last weekend.

Since the Crawley game, Vale have been knocked out of the Carabao Cup at the hands of Leeds United, despite a hard fought encounter between the two sides.

Port Vale will look to begin their home campaign with a win and turn Vale Park into a fortress, and set some solid foundations for their promotion push this season.

The Opposition

Wycombe Wanderers will be looking to go one further this season, literally, after finishing only one point outside of the play-off spots last year.

They travel away from home for the first time this season, and will be looking to improve on their draw with Lincoln City at Adams Park last weekend.

It will be the first time that the teams have met after Vale secured promotion at Adams Park, after Vale secured a 1-1 draw thanks to a late Lee Hughes equaliser.

Talk

Nathan Smith:

"Being back at Vale Park for the first time this season, it's one of them where we need to set off on the right foot and hopefully get a win."

Gareth Ainsworth:

"I'm sure at the start of the game there will be some good exchanges because they are a good bunch of fans, and I lived there for a year and have still got friends there and Port Vale definitely played a big part in what I became."

Team News

Vale could be without goalkeeper Rob Lainton, as he picked up an injury against Leeds United midweek. The Valiants could also be without Cristian Montano after he his still in recovery after his knock at Crawley Town.

Coverage

iFollow The Vale will be providing full 90 minute commentary from the match, while the Port Vale Twitter and Facebook feed will be providing live updates for the entirety.

There will also be build-up to the game with the official Snapchat account: officialpvfc.

Reaction will be available on the official website post-match, as well as on YouTube, iFollow and social media.

REPORT: Port Vale 2-3 Wycombe Wanderers

A late fightback from Port Vale wasn’t enough to secure a result as three goals in the opening 25 minutes for the visitor’s saw Vale suffer their first league defeat of the season.

Dan Turner and Ben Whitfield got goals in the last five minutes for Michael Brown’s side, but it came just too late, as Wycombe went away with the victory.

Vale went 1-0 down through Adebayo Akinfenwa on the second minute. The centre forward managed to get on the end of Joe Jacobson’s free kick, as his header flew into the bottom corner.

Wanderers soon doubled their lead as Paris Cowan-Hall converted for the visitors on the 12th minute. After picking up the ball in a questionable offside position, the winger cut inside of Lawrie Wilson and struck home into the far corner.

Cowan-Hall wanted another as he ran clear of the Vale defence and powered into the arms of Hornby, who did well to get down low and deny from close-range.

Things got worse for Port Vale as Akinfenwa converted his second goal of the game. Coming from the corner, Luke O’Nien volleyed the ball towards the target man – he reached out for the header and got his second of the game on 25 minutes.

Vale tried to find a way back into the game and could have done so on the 31st minute when Nathan Smith headed into the path of Scott Brown’s goal from a Marcus Harness corner.

The score was 3-0 down at the break and after the half time interval in the 59th minute, Danny Pugh suffered a slight injury so Vale were forced into their first change of the afternoon as Billy Reeves came on. Rekeil Pyke also made way for Dan Turner.

Turner made an instant impact as he whipped in a good low cross for Tom Pope. The Vale legend struck the ball into the stand but showed a warning towards Wycombe with The Valiants still 3-0 down in the 64th minute.

Hornby was again called into action as he tipped Southwell’s free-kick just around the post on the 66th minute.

The hosts continued to search for the goal as Nathan Smith found Marcus Harness after a clearance. The on-loan winger tried to square it into the path of Turner as the ball was cleared with 15 minutes to play.

It was time for the debutant Ben Whitfield as the on-loan man from Bournemouth came on for Montano with 11 minutes to play, in hope of making a difference to the game.

Vale finally had their goal through the substitute, Turner. He nodded in Lawrie Wilson’s excellent cross from close-range to get his second-goal of the campaign.

Two minutes later, Vale Park erupted as Whitfield scored a wonder goal to bring The Valiants back into the game on the 90th minute. The winger cut inside after racing past Jacobson onto his favourite left-foot and struck into the top right-hand corner. Five minutes were added on, as all the pressure converted onto Gareth Ainsworth’s side.

Five minutes were added on and the supporters had a moment of excitement with Vale coming touching distance of getting a result. Sadly, not being able to do so, the result will prepare Port Vale for Chesterfield next weekend.